Fall Break Fun

This past weekend was my first college break, and although it included a whole lot of driving (8 hours), it was worth it and I'm thankful for the way the weekend turned out. 

I drove home Thursday night after my lab. Consequently, I skipped my first college class on Friday... hey, it had to be done sooner or later...

I spent the day Friday visiting with some dear friends, then came home and got all gussied up for Northwestern's homecoming. It worked out perfectly that the student section theme was "frat" because my brother also looked super spiffy and so, much to his delight I'm sure, we got to take cute sibling pictures.  :)

My two favorite girls were on the Homecoming court, lending to more pictures.

This is before the winners were announced...

...and this is after

Three cheers that these two won 2nd Runner up and 2013 Homecoming Queen! Whoop whoop! Unfortunately, the crown for this year got left at the school, so Savanah and I might have to have a queen photo shoot sometime in the near future... ;)

I'm very thankful that these two deserving girls won these titles, that I got to be there to watch them, hand off the crown, and give them both lots of hugs afterwards. 

During third quarter, however, I headed back to Clemson so that I could be there to cheer on my Tigers the next day against Boston College. 

I made a pit stop, however, to pick up this beautiful, God-fearing girl. My heart is so blessed by her life and her love for the Lord. Needless to say, spending a whole weekend with her was WONDERFUL.

I had a 'full house' Friday night, for in addition to Alayna, Caroline and Marie came and spent the night with me as well. Unfortunately my dorm room is pretty small, and so they had to sleep on the ground (sorry girls!). We did our best to make it comfortable but there's only so much you can do to a rock hard floor... Nonetheless, it was great to see their beautiful faces! They make my heart happy too. 

And here are the weekly game day pictures with some hall mates...

For those of you who didn't watch the game, it was a close one, a little too close, but the Tigers pulled out a win in Death Valley against Boston College. I can't wait to return to this beautiful place in a few short days for ESPN College Game Day round TWO to watch my Tigers take down FSU. 

Where the Blue Ridge yawns it's greatness, where the Tigers play...

Friday after the game Alayna and I came back to the dorm room and watched a movie. The next morning we loaded the car, headed to church, then headed back home to Rock Hill. 

I'm glad that I ended up coming back home for a couple of days.

 Really glad. 

The R&R in my own household was much needed. The extra four hours of driving was worth it to spend more time with these Priddy people. 

The beautiful thing about not having classes Monday and Tuesday is that I only have three days of class ahead of me! And no labs! Praise the Lord!! 

I feel bad for the professors this week though. They're going to have a hard time reeling in students' attention with such a big game just around the corner. I for one am beside myself in excitement for the upcoming game against FSU. 

I LOVE CLEMSON FOOTBALL! 

I'm safely back in good ol' Clemson, SC. I miss home, but it's good to be back in the place that is quickly becoming one of my favorite on planet Earth. 

Fall Getaway 2013

As expected, Fall Getaway with Crosspoint rocked! 

The weekend started off great since I got to take the trip with these lovely ladies.

When we pulled in to Camp Greenville we were greeted with a welcome sign and a beautiful view. The first of many great views from the weekend.

During the retreat we heard truth via Dr. Nathan Finn from Southeastern University. He taught on the Journey of Salvation and touched on three main points or stops along that journey: justification, sanctification, and perseverance. 

Here's a short summary:

-Justification is by grace alone, through faith alone in Christ alone, a gift bestowed by God that is totally independent of our good works. 

-Sanctification is the theological term for the ongoing growth and maturing in Christ. It begins when we are justified, but continues throughout the duration of one's Christian life and includes both positional and progressive sanctification.

-Perseverance argues for the permanence of a Christian's salvation - all believers persevere in their faith until the end of their spiritual journey. 

After the messages, we would break into discussion groups with the people in our cabins. I got to meet new girls who love the Lord and discuss theology and what it means practically for our lives. We also got to pray over one another in powerful ways. 

Also, what's a retreat without some games? The best one was probably "Flour Frenzy" where we all went into a field and smacked each other with pantyhose full of flour. As silly as that sounds, it was a blast. 

Here is my CP group in the aftermath of it. Well, my CP group plus a certain photo bomber..

I met so many new people this weekend and grew in the relationships I'd already formed.

 I am incredibly thankful for the people that the Lord is putting in my life. I'm quickly falling in love with their sweet smiles and beautiful hearts. 

(Photo cred to Abby Seelig)

The highlight of the weekend for me, however, was getting to enjoy God's creation. He displays His glory so brilliantly it's insane. 

The first night we got there we had a bonfire, and then a few girls and I laid on the ground and stared at the stars in silence. I have never seen so many stars or a clearer sky in my entire life. 

It truly was glorious. 

The next day, during free time, a group of us went exploring. We walked to ShowerBath Falls where we swam around a little bit. 

We then followed the creek all the way down to where it dropped off into a huge waterfall called Rainbow Falls. We were extremely careful, but got to look out and see the mountains from the top of a water fall, which was pretty awesome!

On the last morning we woke up around 6. The things we do to see the Lord's glory! We walked to Pretty Place, a chapel that overlooks the mountain side. Once we got there, we sat still and waited for the sunrise. We most definitely were not disappointed. 

It's so fascinating to me that the Lord paints pictures like this every morning. 

"The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of His hands. Day after day they pour forth speech; night after night they display knowledge." 

-Psalm 19:1-2

It is even more humbling that the Creator and Almighty God who spoke those mountains and that sky into being loves me, a wretched sinner.

Oh Praise Him!

Another miracle is that this picture happened on the FIRST try!

This next picture is of me and my CP group leader Marie. The Lord has already used her mightily in my life, and I am very thankful for her. 

Also, after we left Pretty Place she took us down an unknown trail and brought us to this beautiful sight. 

Cheers to a great weekend. It was relaxing and fulfilling. 

I can't say enough how thankful I am. How good the Lord is. How He is forever faithful. 

Bless the Lord oh my soul!

Catch Up Time!

Man I am really slacking...sorry about that! With that being said, sit back, relax, and get ready for information overload :)

The weekend after parents weekend (so I guess 3 weeks ago?) Clemson had a by week, which means a free Saturday! So, I went on a hike with a few girls from my CP group. 

We just got to relax, enjoy each other's company, and behold God's glory through creation.

I'd call it a pretty successful Saturday!

The week after this, we had a Thursday night away game, and so I went and watched it at Crosspoint. 

GO TIGERS.

Then, the next night, our CP group joined with a couple of adult CP groups from Crosspoint and had Thanksgiving in September. It was every college kid's heaven. 

Here is the majority of our CP group girls. 

Beautiful smiles, full hearts, and full tummies.

I also spent this entire day and night begging my dearest friend to come visit me during her band free weekend. And Praise the Lord that she did! I have missed her way too much.

Even though it rained the whole time she was here, we still had a blast. Just being with this girl makes me happy. I'm so proud of her and everything that she is accomplishing, but more than anything my heart rejoices that she is seeking the Lord in all that she does. This girl is going to do big things y'all. Big things!

Ok and finally, this past weekend! Friday night Crosspoint had a skate night at a skating rink in Anderson with the theme "Thrift Shop USA." I probably hadn't been roller skating since I was in elementary school. We were easily the oldest people there but it was so much fun!

Then, after a quick stop at Cookout, we all went for a late night swim. 

And it was awesome. 

Finally, Game Day! After a by week and a Thursday away game back to back weeks, I was getting a little hungry for some Clemson football in Death Valley.

Here are just a few of my lovely hall mates and I.

This day held a lot of surprises. Wonderful surprises. Such as these two handsome guys. I have missed them so terribly and it was great to see their smiling faces!

As well as the two little fellas in the picture below. They make my heart so happy and never fail to make me die laughing at their silly antics and funny stories. They're are slowly but surely becoming Tigers. Just look at that orange!

It was also good to see my family again. I got to hang out with my brother during the whole game, which was wonderful. It wasn't much of a game (because Clemson dominated) so we just got to catch up and hang out. I miss him so terribly, and even though he's not a fan of my school, I'm a huge fan of him, and I'm pretty sure he loves me a little bit too ;)

I also had my first college visit yesterday from Catalyst students in the form of the one and only Kylie McDonald. Thanks to my late night chemistry lab, I didn't get to go to dinner with all of the Clemson and Anderson students, but I think this might have been better. I have also missed this girl way too much. I loved getting to catch up with her and show her a glimpse of the life I'm forming here. 

Again I say, that the Lord is good. I really can't say it enough. The pictures in this post give only a handful of the wonderful people He has put in my life who love and fear Him. 

He also continually displays His glory through skies like these:

On tap for this weekend: FALL GETAWAY!

Crosspoint is taking it's college ministry to Camp Greenville for a weekend of fellowship, nature, relaxation, and the word of God. I am literally beside myself in excitement. 

Please be in prayer that the Lord would move in mighty ways this weekend!

Truth via Chemistry

I just got blown away a little bit by something that I read in my Chemistry text book. Only my God could speak truth to me through a Chemistry textbook at 11pm on a Thursday night. Therefore, I had to share this immediately. ;) 

Some background...I'm learning about atoms, and how no one can know both where an electron is and how fast it is moving within the atom at the same time. There are some complex reasons for this that I won't go in to (mainly because I haven't totally grasped them) but it is something that is evading scientists, and they just can't figure it out, nor will they ever probably be able to. 

So here is an excerpt from my textbook:

...we can estimate some properties very accurately, but we cannot know everything about an atomic/molecular-level system at one time. This is a very different perspective from the one it replaced, which was famously summed up by Pierre-Simon Laplace (1749–1827), who stated that if the positions and velocities of every object in the universe were known, the future would be set:

"We may regard the present state of the universe as the effect of its past and the cause of its future. An intellect which at a certain moment would know all forces that set nature in motion, and all positions of all items of which nature is composed, if this intellect were also vast enough to submit these data to analysis, it would embrace in a single formula the movements of the greatest bodies of the universe and those of the tiniest atom; for such an intellect nothing would be uncertain and the future just like the past would be present before its eyes." -- P.S. Laplace. 

That quote just gets me. This metaphorical "intellect" that Laplace speaks of isn't so metaphorical after all. The Lord knows the movements of the greatest bodies of the universe and of the tiniest atom. HE CREATED THEM. And in that great God we have salvation, redemption! This God is good and loving and compassionate and full of grace. 

And do you see what Laplace, probably unknowingly, says about our God?? 

...for such an intellect nothing would be uncertain and the future just like the past would be present before its eyes...

NOTHING is uncertain for our God. Our just and good God. He sees the future like it's today, for He is timeless. All things were created by Him and for Him. He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together (Colossians 1:16-17).

Rejoice in this truth. Live in it. When things don't go your way, remember that it is the Lord that is in control. And who better? He is sure and steadfast, and when we look to Him as we walk through our days, our hearts and minds can rest in this truth and we can live full lives for God.

One Month Down...

I came back from class this afternoon to find this on our door: 

(the things that have been written on this board in only a month...oh my)

I can't believe it's already been an entire month! It really does feel like my family just dropped me off.

The first week was hard. Oh so hard. 

But life here is getting good. Real good. 

Praise the Lord

I'm finally getting into a routine, which is great. By God's grace, I wake up an hour or two before my first class every morning and do some type of exercise. Then I spend some serious time digging deep into the truth of God's word. 

On mornings that I sleep a little too late, I skip my work out. (Walking the hills of this campus every day plus eight flights of stairs to my room can hold me over until I get ample time for a run.) Instead I spend the hour or so that I have with Jesus. 

I am so thankful that God is making Himself my everything, my only priority this strongly and this early into the game. 

Mondays are library days...actually every day is turning into a library day when I have exams, speeches, and lab reports all rolled up into one week.

Then, on Monday nights I have connecting point (CP) groups, which is a girls small group through crosspoint church. I am thrilled to see what God has in store for that group, and I've already grown through fellowship with some of the girls. In only a month! Woo hoo!!

Tuesdays I have class again and a biology lab, but on Tuesday nights I have been attending campus crusaders for Christ, or CRU. And I love it. 

Wednesdays I go non stop and then drop dead after ending my day with a late night chem lab. 

Thursdays I have class again, more homework time, and then a statistics lab that thankfully is pretty short and sweet. Most Thursdays I go to FCA at the oober late time of 9:19, but every once in awhile something comes up.

For example, this Thursday night I will be at Crosspoint watching the Clemson v. N.C. State game. GO TIGERS!!!

Fridays I have one class. At 11:15. It's only 50 minutes.

Fridays are my favorite.

After my class, I eat lunch with Kate, a special needs student in the Clemson LIFE program here. 

Then from that point Friday to Saturday night, it's a wild card. There are so many things going on here and so many people to meet and hang out with. 

This Friday, however, I'm going on a coffee date with one of my small group leaders. Then we are having Thanksgiving dinner with two other CP groups. I'm excited for the fellowship, obviously, but the real, home cooked food will be a nice change from the dining hall. 

Sundays I attend Crosspoint church. Sunday afternoons are pretty random too. Sometimes I do homework. Or go to the grocery store. Or do laundry, which has happened one time so far.

Also, I have a job! Sort of...I'm officiating intramural indoor soccer. I made a foreign goalie a little angry but other than getting yelled at in a british accent, it's been great!

So, to all of you family and friends concerned about my well being, I'm doing great, simply because the Lord is great. Thank you for your prayers. Keep 'em coming.

In only a month I've seen the love and grace of the Father lavished on me in incredible ways. 

And I am so thankful.

Cheers to my first month of college. 

Here's to many more. 

September 11, 2013

As I was walking to class this morning, I saw this and my breath caught.

This is made out of small american flags. That's my favorite part. 

Everyone likes to share their story about 9-11-2001, so here's mine:

I was six. I don't remember it. 

I used to watch a show with my family called 24. The show was all about terrorism and a man who did whatever it took to stop terrorist acts from happening. 

What I do remember is just a few years ago realizing that what happened on that day 12 years ago was a terrorist act. That people from another country made an intentional decision to put a painful dent in America by destroying lives and property. That what I thought was purely fiction in a T.V. show actually occurred in my lifetime. 

I also very vividly remember a video that I saw of people desperately jumping out of the windows of a skyscraper, and not just one or two but hundreds. 

And my heart broke.

I think that on that day, and everyday after, the resounding question is "WHY?"

Why did this happen? How could it have happened? We're AMERICA for crying out loud. Why did this happen to a country that is supposedly a nation 'under God'?

I wonder why too, and I don't know the answer.

But I do know that the Lord allowed it to happen. 

And I do know beyond a shadow of a doubt that the Lord is good. 

While my heart is burdened for the lives that were lost and the families they belonged to, my heart rejoices that when things like this happen in day-to-day life I have a solid Rock on which I can stand. 

I have a sovereign God who is all powerful, all-knowing, and loves me unconditionally and sacrificially. 

And how do I know this, you ask?

Because Jesus Christ left the glory of heaven to come to this worthless earth where He lived a perfect life that I could never live, and then died the death and took on the full wrath of God, His Father, that I so greatly deserve. He did this for me. And then, three days later, He rose from the dead, defeating sin and death and making a way for me to live in Him and with Him for eternity. 

I know that God is good because He sent His one and only Son to die for my sins. 

I know that God is good because I have seen Him work all things together for my good, for His glory. 

I know that God is good, that He can be trusted, that He is faithful. 

And because of that, I can praise Him in the storm, both the ones that have been, and the ones yet to come.

He who did not spare His own Son, but gave Him up for us all - how will He not also, along with Him, graciously give us all things?

-Romans 8:32

Thankful for Parent's Weekend

                               

Yay for game day round 2 with these lovely ladies.  

  For those of you who don't know, the girl on the far left is Amelia, and she is my roommate. The young lady next to her is Ellen, from Ohio. I met her at an ice cream social that Crosspoint hosted during first week. Thankful that the Lord brought us together there because she loves the Lord so much and, in turn, I love her so very much as well. If you happened to stumble upon this, the girl next to Ellen is me, and then next to me, the girl on the far right is Katherine, and she lives on my hall. She is one of the funniest people I have ever met, and I'm thankful for the countless laughs she's already provided me, as well as for the ones that are sure to come.

 It was a good day in Death Valley, for we creamed S.C. State 52-13. As expected, the game was subpar to the standard set by the week before, but seeing the family this weekend made it all a-okay!

I am so SO thankful for my family. Words really can't even describe it. Although my brother still isn't too keen on Clemson University, my parents wore their orange and purple proudly. When questioned by my brother on his loyalty, my father responds with what's becoming a favorite phrase of mine: "It's not that I'm a Clemson fan, just a Catilyn fan." This melts my heart. (One day he'll be a whopping fan of both!)

I just want to take this opportunity to brag on my parents. They love me so much. It's really ridiculous. They have sacrificed so much of themselves for me for almost 19 years. They are tangible grace; they are a picture of self-sacrifice. They have shown me and taught me the love, grace, and truth that is found in Christ Jesus. I don't know why God chose me to be blessed with them but I am SO THANKFUL. To say it was good to see them this weekend is probably an understatement. 

Ok, thank you for reading my rant. Along with my parents, the Lord has put some other really awesome people in my life, and I got totally surprised by their appearance in Clemson this weekend. 

For one, Robert Harwell, sporting a Clemson shirt. Whaddya know?!

And then there's these guys. Man oh man how thankful I am for those smiling faces and the hearts behind them. These two have poured into my life in incredible ways, and I look forward to the ways the Lord will use them in my life in the future. Again, the thankfulness in my heart is overflowing. In addition to all of the wonderful spiritual things these two have taught me, Clemson grad Matthew Cavin also taught me Tiger Rag at a Rally in the Valley game a few years ago, and now, in his words, "I'm a professional student!"

 On Sunday, my wonderful parents took us out to lunch before heading home, and it was like old times.  This picture pretty much sums it up:

While college is awesome, and I'm not really itching to go home any time soon, it was good to have a taste of home here. I loved getting to share my new life with my family. It's weird that they don't know everything that's going on, and it's also weird that all of my relationships are changing in this new state of life, but glory be to the Lord Almighty who is constant through it all.